Of Monsters and Men
by emmasbc
Summary: After the end of the world, the Hargreeves siblings are brought back to the time of their adolescence. They were supposed to be slowly recovering from the trauma they had suffered, but it seems life had other plans for them. Not canon to comics. Where the siblings are subjected to their worst fears and memories. Suggestions are welcomed.
1. Six Weeks

**Author's note: Welcome to my first fanfiction story! This is a sort of introduction chapter, but I do have an actual plot ahead. If you don't care for the character featured in this chapter (which happens to be Vanya), don't worry because I will be writing in the point of view of each character at least once. Some more than others, though. **

**With that said… I present the first part of this story…**

Of Monsters and Men

Six Weeks

Vanya's eyes snapped open, only to be met with the thick black blanket of nothingness called darkness. She sat up, rubbing her eyes and waiting for them to adjust to the light. The haze of sleep began to slip away as she saw more clearly, and she was suddenly reminded of the past few weeks of her life. To say "new life" would be inaccurate, but it wasn't her "old" one either. Six weeks ago, give or take a day or two, she had woken up not with a mattress and a room, but shaking and arms holding her. Hands grabbing. She shook her head to clear her foggy memories.

Vanya didn't remember vividly what had happened that night, but from everyone else she had gathered that Five had somehow taken them back in time to when they were kids. It was just like his last jump in time- physically, they had changed, but they had the consciousnesses of adults.

What no one told her, however, was _why_ they had jumped in time. Her biggest question was: was it because of her?

She knew she had lost control of her power, scared and angry. So, so, so angry. It was that anger that led her to nearly killing Allison. A wave of guilt passed through her, and Vanya tried to push the negative thoughts out of her head. Allison had already forgiven her, and Vanya had returned the favor. In fact, Vanya had managed to look past her mistreatment… for most of her siblings. She still tread carefully around Luther, avoiding his eyes and excusing herself from anywhere he entered. And, of course, she had not forgiven their father. But neither had anyone else.

Hargreeves, who, in many ways, was the bane of all of their lives, was alive and well again. He ordered them around just like when they were children when they first arrived back, but eased off a bit later. They had all chosen to icily ignore him. He was the reason that any of this had happened, anyways.

Six weeks later, sitting on her bed in her room, Vanya reflected on how her six adopted siblings were doing. Yes, six. Number Six, aka Ben Hargreeves aka The Horror was alive and, unlike father, unwell. He acted alright, but Vanya had spent enough time pretending that she was okay to realize when someone wasn't. Old habits die hard. It was in the way that he softly walked around, as if he was still the ghost he was for almost thirteen years. Not only that, but he tended to avoid everyone who wasn't a recovering drug addict.

Speaking of Klaus, the previous junkie was managing decently. He was completely sober- no relapses. But, just like Ben, it was clear that he was itching to pick up his bad habits. He had begged everyone in the large household to get him- or let him get- a fix. Just to ease his way, he had claimed. Although grudgingly, every Hargreeves man-child tried their best to help Number Four in his journey to sobriety. By "help," they meant not getting him anything and keeping him away from it.

Allison, now without a scar on her throat, was doing well under the circumstances. She'd let go of the past with her siblings, but was still tortured by memories of Claire. She regretted leaving her in the future. Sometimes, Vanya had caught the former movie-star in a vulnerable position while reminiscing over the mistakes she had made with her daughter. Luther, though still hesitant out of shame, tried his best to comfort Number Three. She had long since stopped pushing him away and, in a complete twist, had even started to become closer with him.

Diego spent a lot of time hanging around Mom, seemingly wary to let the fake woman out of his sight. He had always been close with her, closer than any of the other Hargreeves children, but something must have happened to make him fix himself to her like this. Something Vanya didn't know about. Even still, he always had a hard look on. Vanya was sure that he was cracked somewhere inside. Instead of trying to find help or getting better, he resumed training with dad in order to "regain his old skills."

Actually, all of them had been practicing somewhat, but less vigorously than when they were first kids. Vanya was controlling her powers, reining in her wild emotions. No more cuts and no more broken bottles.

That just left Five. As the oldest and self-proclaimed wisest of the Hargreeves "children," Number Five refused to share anything with his siblings. He acted perfectly fine at the (limited) family meals but, behind closed doors, drank all of his pain away. The liquor cabinets were steadily emptying, and this time Klaus wasn't to blame. One time he mentioned a "Dolores," but only once, and then he trailed off, staring into some abyss in his mind before snapping at Vanya and stalking off.

Their father had tried to talk to Vanya only once in the last one-and-a-half months. It was two days after their adult minds had intercepted their teenage ones. He had called her into his office, seated in his chair with that superior aura he had mastered. The room reeked of foul memories, and Vanya found herself disgusted with the man she knew as her father. She made up her mind there and then- she hated him. But still she came, stood in the same place she had many times before, and listened to the man speak.

"Number Seven-"

"It's Vanya," she interrupted. He closed his mouth and actually raised his eyes to meet hers behind his monocle.

"_Vanya_," he said with contempt, "it seems as if you are ready to resume your training. Tomorrow, at six o'clock sharp you are to meet me here for instructions." He looked back down at whatever he was doing, silently dismissing her, but she wasn't having it.

"No." Eyes snapping back up, Hargreeves glared at the now teenage girl.

"Why not?" He asked, keeping his harsh tone.

"Because now I know what I can do. We both know that I'm powerful. I'm not that same little girl that you so easily manipulated. If I want training, it's on my own terms. I don't want your help and I don't need it." With that said, she stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind her. Dramatic, sure, but effective.

True to her word, Vanya did not appear the next morning, opting instead to accompany Allison to breakfast at a nearby café. He didn't summon her again.

Despite rejecting her father, Vanya did practice. She wasn't such a loose cannon, and she controlled her great powers, travelling to secluded places with Allison to practice. It was much better than when she was with "Leonard." Allison was patient and stayed quiet while Vanya focused in on sounds- heartbeats, far-off trains, sometimes even the rustling of leaves. However, Vanya never invited Allison's shadow, Luther. She wasn't ready to face him yet.

"Hey, Vanya?" Allison had started one time. Vanya hummed and faced her adoptive sister. "Maybe… maybe you should, I don't know, _try_ to talk to Luther," Vanya made like she was going to interrupt, "hold on, wait! Just listen to me." Vanya looked unhappy, but stayed silent. Allison nodded in thanks.

"I know what he did was wrong," Vanya snorted, "but he's really sorry. I know he is. He was just upset and worried about me, you know how he is…" She trailed off and glanced away.

"Why doesn't he say that to my face then?" Vanya demanded angrily.

"You've been avoiding him! Every time he's within thirty feet of you, you book it! Maybe if you just-"

"-Just what, Allison? If I forgave him for betraying me and not even regretting it? Or if he does, he sure doesn't know how to show it." She answered the unformed question.

"It's just, you forgave everyone else. I thought that maybe you could do the same for him. It's up to you, but know that I've let it go and I hope you can, too. I love both of you and I won't choose between you two." There was a moment of silence before Vanya spoke.

"I wasn't asking you to. I… I know you love Luther." Allison blushed. "I love you, too, and I'm sorry for yelling. I'm just not ready." Allison was quiet for another moment, and then she nodded.

"Alright. I can accept that. I hope that you'll be able to forgive him someday. It feels like this- us going back- is a chance to mend our twisted family. I would hate to see that opportunity wasted." The two women- now girls- didn't speak for a bit, just processing the last few moments in peace. Then, Vanya sighed.

"Let's go home. Maybe we can all have a family dinner? I promise to not run away from Luther, at least for tonight." Allison immediately brightened and they went on their way to the Hargreeves household, but slowly enough to keep casual conversation alive.

Dinner started at six o'clock that night, but only Allison, Luther, and Vanya were there at that time. The other siblings (Dad was not invited) were taking their sweet time getting here. Everyone had been informed earlier, but clearly were not inclined to show up on time. Numbers One, Three, and Seven stood in awkward silence until Allison sat first.

"I just ordered some Chinese food from that place a couple blocks away," said Allison.

"Perfect." Vanya sat down next to her. Luther fidgeted, reached for the chair next to Allison, but then changed his mind and sat down by Vanya. They didn't talk, but that was all they were ready for, or Vanya, at least.

A few moments later, Diego sauntered into the room.

"Why so q-q-quiet? D-dammit!" He shook his head. "Sorry about that," he muttered, grabbing a seat across from Allison. No one answered.

Next was Klaus, accompanied by Ben, who was hovering around the brunette. Klaus sat by Diego, and Ben followed quickly to seat himself next to Klaus.

The six of them made _very_ small talk while they waited for Five. Maybe ten minutes later, they all grew impatient.

"_Guys,"_ Klaus whined, "I'm starving." He was more than a little disappointed when nobody replied with 'nice to meet you, starving.'

"We're waiting for Five." Luther didn't look at Klaus when he said this, purposely looking away from everyone seated.

"Ah I see Mr. Gorilla Man, or ex-gorilla should I say, is still in charge. Our glorious leader, thank heavens we have you to order us around." When he got no reply, Klaus rolled his eyes and started laughing. "Oh, come on guys, it was just a joke. You're all being…" he paused, looking at Ben for help. Ben just shook his head at him. "fun suckers. Yeah! The lot of you. Just people-sized vacuums of fun." He looked around to see a reaction, but all he got was five exasperated preteens glaring at him. Folding his arms and sitting back in his chair, he finally stopped talking, making an annoyed face.

Five never ended up coming to that first family dinner, and no one asked why. In the six weeks after the incident, he only came to two of the dinners. They were always kind of awkward, but Vanya felt like it was helping somewhat to bring them together.

As it turned out, they really needed to be brought back together.

Vanya, at the six-week mark where she was sitting on her old bed, frowned when she heard a loud thump coming from the floor above her. Followed by another and another and another until the thumps resembled marching. She cautiously walked to the door and pressed her ear against the door in order to hear better. That's when she heard an effeminate shriek.

"Allison!" Vanya yelled. She bolted out the door but stopped suddenly. A giant figure, black and dripping wet was standing right in front of her. She stared at the goo-monster, alarmed but fascinated.

"What are you?" The creature lunged for her, but Vanya ducked just in time. The small girl darted around the massive monster and ran for it, glancing behind her to see it pulling its giant fist out of her door. Then, on the stairs, she saw another one of the creatures holding Allison, who was unconscious, in its arms. She hesitated, shocked and scared, and stopped moving. It was only for a second, but in that time, the first monster had made its way behind Vanya. Her scream was silenced by a black goo that got into her mouth and nose, making her choke.

She thrashed around in its grip, clawing and hitting, but nothing was working. She tried to focus on a sound in order to use her powers, but the substance coming from the creature had gotten into her ears. Vanya's vision became spotted and fuzzy, and she felt herself becoming weak. In the distance, she vaguely heard people yelling, just like the last time she had unintentionally slipped into darkness.

To be continued…

_Next time:_

"_Where the hell am I?" He sunk down on the floor, back against the wall while clutching at his scalp. "Go away! Leave me alone!" His screams persisted until his throat became dry and scratchy. "Help me," he whimpered. Couldn't one of his siblings come to help him, at least once?_

**Author's note: Wow okay thanks if you read this. I'm telling you now that this story will probably get darker as it progresses. Also, feel free to suggest things you want to see. I'm open to almost anything. The path this story is going on is very flexible. **


	2. Hunger

**Author's note: This chapter gets a bit darker. Please do whatever you need to in order to keep yourself safe.**

Of Monsters and Men

Hunger

Klaus awoke with a splitting headache and a string of curses finding its way from his mouth. What had happened last night? He hadn't- astonishingly- gotten high again, had he? He'd been sober for, what, over six weeks now? And why was it so dark in here? He then realized his eyes were still shut from pain and decided to open them. Still dark. Klaus mentally chided himself. He must have been high to not realize that he was blindfolded, his hands were tied behind his back, and he was sat in a rather uncomfortable chair.

Klaus figured he should be freaked out, or even a bit scared considering he had obviously been kidnapped, but it's not like that was the first time. He considered himself a veteran in kidnappings (as well as just a regular veteran, obviously). At least he was dressed this time, right?

"Yoo-hoo! Who's there?" He sang, recognizing that his mouth was free. The sound of a large, clearly metal door echoed through the room, giving Klaus an idea of just how big it was. The footsteps that clattered across the floor weren't very reassuring, and Klaus suddenly remembered the events of what he assumed was the previous night.

He had been applying some eyeliner, as he was planning on going out. He was going to take Ben with him to a club (let the boy live a little), and had even managed to charm one of the bouncers in order for them to ignore their young appearance. Ben, bless him, had thought that they were just going out for dinner and had been surprised to see Klaus in some… fairly revealing attire. The small boy was just about to ask what was really going on, his mouth already shaping itself (similar to what a fish does) when the two boys heard a scream. Immediately, the atmosphere changed and they tensed, prepared for a fight. They heard Vanya yell Allison's name, so it must have been her that screamed. Sure, it was girlish, but it could have been Diego's. Or that was his reasoning, anyways. Footsteps, similar to the ones Klaus heard in the present time, stopped right outside the room where the two boys stood. The door had swung open, making two slimy, black monsters visible to the two of them.

Klaus' memory was a bit fuzzy after that, but he recalled Ben summoning his literal demons, but the beasts, when cut, simply grew around the tentacles. He also remembered chucking a lamp. It didn't do anything.

Those damned footsteps made their way to Klaus and he finally became nervous.

…

Diego never liked being tied up. He wasn't into that kinky bondage shit. Also, it gave him limited capacity to get his knives. This was why, when he found himself in this annoying position, he was rightfully angry. And his stupid ankle throbbed from last night.

He was just casually throwing his knives around in his room when this big-ass black thing burst into his room and tried to kill him! Of course, Diego being himself, he had tried to fight back but his knives just sank through the thing's… not flesh. Then he tried to fight it head-on. He had momentarily forgotten that he was a kid again and had lost a lot of his hand-to-hand combat skills, resulting in him being picked up by his ankle and thrown across his bedroom, rendering the boy unconscious.

If he had been older, he definitely could have destroyed that gooey mess. Or at least that's what he mumbled to himself while he was trapped in who-knows-where.

Number Two was jolted out of his thoughts when his blindfold was ripped off by a goo-monster, leaving remnants of said goo near his temples. Bright white artificial light assaulted his brown eyes, and he squinted to make out the finer details of the glob of black. Not that there was anything to make out other than a dripping, sticky lump.

"Where the hell am I?" Diego put out threateningly. To this, there was no answer. The thing, seeing as he had no clue what to call it, stepped around the chair Diego was sitting in and, surprisingly, began to break the bonds that were holding his wrists and ankles at bay. Of course, once freed, the boy/man sprang up and faced his opponent. So what if he was in a kid's body again? He could still remember the moves he'd learned. He leapt for the massive thing, trying to strike it in the not-temple. However, seeing as this hadn't worked with his knives, Diego wasn't all that shocked when all his hand did to the thing was get stuck inside its head. When it didn't respond to the contact, he pulled his hand out with a squelching sound. Great. Now his hand was covered in the stuff.

Shaking his hand off, Diego once again questioned the figure. "What am I doing here?" Then, remembering that he had heard a scream back at the house, asked: "Are the others here?" When Number Two received no answers to any of his imminent questions, he threw his hands up in frustration. Even if he was mad, a positive thought couldn't help but flit through his mind. _At least you didn't stutter._

…

The creatures had removed his bondages. Shame; Klaus kind of liked it. They had cleared out of the room once Klaus had stopped berating them with pointless quips and insults and he was alone, standing in the bright room with the four stark-white walls surrounding him.

He stayed like that for a few minutes, until the metal door- which was still white but sounded metal- was pushed open. One of the things wheeled in a small cart with a platter and cover on it. This was taken to the wall opposite Klaus and left. Next, three, gurneys were brought in. The color drained from his face. Lain on the gurneys were three bodies, covered, but blood could be seen through them.

"No, no, no… you can't do this!" He begged with the creatures. "Please, I-I'm sober! I promise! If this is any of you, guys I swear…" he trailed off, knowing that who he accused- his adoptive siblings- would never do this to him. He didn't even know why they'd want to.

Three ghosts now stood in the room with him. Howling, they started to advance on him, assuming- like all the rest- that because Klaus could see them, then he could help them, too. The door slammed shut. Naturally, he scampered to it and began to bang his fists against it. He ignored as the spirits crowded around him. Until he felt one of them touch him, that it.

"No!" He pushed away from them and rushed to the opposite corner.

The ghosts had all been massacred greatly. One had a severed midsection and his top half was sliding off. Another just had huge gashes in her, and the third's skull was collapsed in. They made their way to him, shrieking all together at him, indecipherable in the way their voices blended together in an awful cacophony of anguish.

"Where the hell am I?" He sunk down on the floor, back against the wall while clutching at his scalp. "Go away! Leave me alone!" His screams persisted until his throat became dry and scratchy. "Help me," he whimpered. Couldn't one of his siblings come to help him, at least once? None of his siblings came to his rescue when Hazel and Cha-Cha had captured him. And this was worse. So much worse. Now, the "ghosts" were clawing at him, leaving scratches on his pale skin. Klaus was terrified, even more so than when he was locked inside the Mausoleum. He couldn't move. He just sobbed and screamed at them.

They were Ben's mission victims. He could tell from the way their eyes glared at him, accusatory. Plus, he recognized one of them.

"Please he didn't- he couldn't- he was just a kid! He didn't want to!" Klaus yelled at them, hot tears dripping, making his makeup run.

Klaus remembered the first cart that had been rolled in. Pushing past his literal ghosts, he dashed to the platter and lifted the lid. A syringe, soaking with a clear fluid. Klaus was practically foaming at the mouth. An escape lay before him, familiar to his mind but not yet to his young body. No needle marks lined his inner elbow yet, and Klaus didn't want to change that but… the relief would be immeasurable. He reached for it with hungry eyes, the wails of the dead fading to the background.

_What about Ben, Klaus?_ He shook his head, trying to banish the angel in his conscience. _It would hurt him to see you like that again. You couldn't do that to him, could you? _

Tormented, Klaus drew back his trembling hand. He turned away swiftly from the drugs, eyes landing on the ghosts who continued to torture him.

"Why can you touch me?" He breathed pathetically.

…

Ben had never been ashamed of crying. Hargreeves may have said it was weakness, and maybe some of his siblings wrinkled their noses at him when he shed a tear, but he was never embarrassed of it.

Ben had had many reasons to cry throughout his short life- and death- and it always helped him get through his suffering. When Dad made him kill people on missions, he cried afterwards. When his siblings called him weak, when they ignored him. Later in life and into death, seeing Klaus destroy his body with drugs killed him. Again.

He had always been the closest with Klaus, latching onto the boy like a parasite. The effeminate boy never seemed bothered by it. When Ben died, Klaus was the only one there. As much as it hurt, it was okay. Now he was miraculously alive again but he still clung to Number Four. He hated seeing him suffer, seeing him hurt. All those pills he'd popped, and syringes whose contents he'd expel into the crook of his arm. Bottles and bottles to drown himself in.

He'd been doing so well. Almost seven weeks.

Then he'd woken up in an almost all-white room. Except one wall was glass. One-way it seemed, because no matter how frantically Ben waved and pounded on the glass, Klaus could not see or hear him. So he'd just watched as his brother screamed silently after the bodies had been brought in. He had a suspicion on who they were, but he'd locked that away for the time being, focusing instead on the scared boy on the other side of the window.

He'd wanted to throw up when Klaus discovered the leaking syringe. He held his breath when Klaus reached for it, begging for him not to take it.

When Klaus pulled away, he wept in relief and happiness.

But then Number Four seemed to have seen something- someone, rather- that brought about some painful memories because Klaus clutched at his scalp, face twisted in grief. It must have been Dave, whom Klaus had confided about to Ben only once. But he still didn't pick up the needle.

"Come on Klaus," he pleaded, "don't do it! You've worked so hard to get here. You can't…" he trailed off as his eyes widened in shock.

Ben was in the room, but it wasn't Ben now. It was Ben as he had looked as a ghost. But clearly it wasn't a ghost, because the real Ben could see it. Klaus looked terrified. He broke, collapsing. Ben tried to yell at him, tell him that it wasn't real- it wasn't him! But he still couldn't hear him.

He watched as Klaus crawled, sobbing, to the cart. His hands shook violently as it neared the syringe. Ben knew he craved the release, the freedom that came with numbness. Seeing his brother dead again must have sent him over the edge. He grabbed the needle, and plunged it into his arm, pressing down to release the drugs inside.

They cried together as they both sank onto the floor on opposite sides of a barrier Ben longed to break.

**Author's note: Thanks for reading! Like I said last chapter, I'd really like to hear any suggestions you guys have on the direction of this story. I have a plan, but I'm open to small things like whatever ships you want or things like that. I really appreciate those of you who favorited/followed. Also, for those of you who are into music, this entire story was based off of the band "Of Monsters and Men" and each chapter is the name of a song. Check them out if you feel like it.**


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